Since AutoCAD is quite a heavy software due to its amazing capabilities, some users are experiencing that their AutoCAD is running slow. User reports issues such as a mouse is moving slow, hangs, skips or hesitates and sometimes files are taking a while to open.
Luckily, there are some basic troubleshooting that you can try before going beyond and spend some hefty amount of money for a Mac upgrade.
Part 1. What Is AutoCAD?
CAD stands for computer-aided design, this kind of software is being used by designers, architects and engineers can also be sometimes used by multimedia artists, this can be used for drafting that has 2D and 3D. These are some types of AutoCAD:
- Civil
- Electrical
- Ecscad
- Map 3D
- Mechanical
- Structural Detailing
Due to various functionality and interface, it may require a Machine with a good condition to function properly without any hassle through upgrading your Mac is not always necessary.
Part 2. Troubleshooting to Fix AutoCAD Running Slow Issue
How can I make AutoCAD run faster? This is divided into two parts, first is the most basic that we can do to help to speed the performance of AutoCAD and the second part is to free up some space on your internal storage to enhance the performance of your RAM (Random Access Memory), so as to speed up your Mac, since if the RAM is too loaded it will affect the speed of your Mac.
Troubleshooting 1. Check on the Basics
- Check for the latest update of AutoCAD, also see any updates on add-ons and enhancements
- Try to reboot the network, you may try run some commands and set it to 0 (Zero) then re-launch AutoCAD
- Reset AutoCAD to its default options
- Disable Offline Files
- Turn on the Hardware Acceleration within AutoCAD
Troubleshooting 2. See for Updates
How do I fix slow AutoCAD? It is a possibility that there is an update that you missed, especially if your automatic update on your Mac is turned off. The software might have a hard time functioning since the older version has lesser support than the newer version. On Autodesk Desktop Apps > Click on Accept Update
Troubleshooting 3. Clean Up Cache on Browser
Every time that you visit a website it stores cache and cookies on your browser, and it consumes some of your storage reason behind a slower performance of your Mac. Then it causes AutoCAD running slow issue.
If you are using more than one browser you will then need to clean up each browser, but as you go along with this article, we will show you the easiest way to clean up cache files in multiple browsers.
Chrome
- Launch Google Chrome> On the right side of the address bar click on the Three Dots
- A drop-down list will show > Select Settings
- On the left side of the screen > Select Privacy and Security > Click on Clear Browsing Data
- Change the Time Range of your choice > Make sure the three boxes are ticked Browsing History, Cookies and other site data, Cache images and files > Click on the Clear Data icon
Safari
- Open Safari > Select Safari Menu >Click on Preferences
- Click on the Advanced icon > Enable Show Develop Menu Bar
- Select Develop > Click on Empty Cache
Firefox
- Launch Firefox > On the address bar on the extreme right side > Select the three horizontal lines
- Select Options > Click on Privacy and Security> Select Site and Data > Select Clear Data
Troubleshooting 4. Review RAM’s Processes
As we have briefly discussed above that RAM has something to do with the speed of your Mac then this is the time that you may need to check up on it.
There could be a lot of active processes in the background that causes AutoCAD running slow, here you can stop some processes that are not needed to give way for AutoCAD.
- Go to Utilities Folder > Launch Activity Monitor then > Select System Memory
- Select Memory Tab > Review all the current processes > then Quit those unnecessary running programs
Just in case when you quit those large processes and it did not improve AutoCAD’s performance, you may reboot your Mac to refresh the RAM usage.